T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday night welcomed an audience of 20,000 fans that witnessed the brightest and quirkiest star of UFC Conor McGregor get smothered on the canvas by his arch rival via fourth-round submission. The reigning, undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov’s première title defense seemed no less than fireplay as he dominated the fight from the beginning. In a bone-chilling message, the Russian star uttered to his main rival McGregor “Let’s talk now” in the second round when it became apparent that Khabib was here to put an end to their unfinished business.
The pre-fight buildup was momentous. As dubbed as UFC’s biggest fight thus far, the event brought in hordes of Russian and Irish fans that were euphoric to witness their favourites take on the octagon with their unique, dominating styles. In the pre-fight buildup the Notorious didn’t shy away from ridiculing his opponent’s religion, country and father, but couldn’t live up to his Herculean persona in the real fight and faced defeat as it was just destined for him.
Fight Preview – UFC 229 Result
Khabib fought all his way to the fourth round without giving McGregor any chance to execute his destructive KO power or to throw some fancy kicks. The Russian did what he is best at doing; he grappled the opponent, holding him in a tight fix until he was ready to submit.
Like a man on mission, Khabib dominated the sport from early on. Just like a wizard with a magic wand, the Dagestani Eagle just made a few moves to define his true Sambo potential. In a captivating series of events that involved a takedown, some serious grounding on the floor and tactics to get his bitter rival fatigued, there was a sole fighter on the receiving end and that was McGregor.
Post-Fight Brawl
After toiling for such a honorable victory, a post-fight brawl captured even more attention, turning the spectacular event sour. The deserving candidate for the night leaped out of the cage to pursue Dillon Danis, while the crushed Notorious remained inside the octagon exchanging blows with his opponent’s team. Suddenly there was mayhem in and around the cage that seemed difficult to contain. However, the extra security staff at the venue was able to bring everything under control. In the eyes of MMA pundits and gurus, it is an example of worst post-fight brawl that has ruined an otherwise exemplary performance in lightweight division. Later on, a footage appeared showing McGregor throwing a punch, giving the controversy a different dimension.
Whether the post-fight brawl was fair or not, is debatable. However, what is clear is that the feud between the two lightweight artists hasn’t come to an end. Rather, the turn of events signals another fight in the horizon.
